


The Tragedy is that They Loved Each Other

by TidbitsAndThoughts



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Abuse, Exploring their potential relationship pre-storybook pages, F/M, One-Shot, is in some of the later chapters as vanessa gets worse, nothing fancy, updated tags!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:47:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25658422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TidbitsAndThoughts/pseuds/TidbitsAndThoughts
Summary: A quick one-shot to explore the Prince and Vanessa's relationship from A Hat In Time! Might add onto it but for now this is just a warm-up to figure out the characters. Thanks for reading!
Relationships: The Prince & Queen Vanessa (A Hat in Time)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

The prince drummed his fingers on his thigh as he leaned against the carriage. Outside, the pastel forest he called home paraded by. He would usually savor the taste of its dewy air on his breath and listen to the mirthful birdsongs on the way to the manor. But this time, anxiety squeezed his heart and it felt like cold chains constricted his lungs.

He chose to take a weekend away from his studies because Vanessa hadn’t responded to any of his recent letters. While he knew his princess—er Queen, now—was busy and he might be worried over nothing, the absence of her voice left him feeling lonely. Surely, she would appreciate his visit as much as he would adore seeing her for the weekend, right? Then again, she hadn’t responded to his letter about returning home either…

The drumming of his fingers turned to pinching his thigh as he thought about the possibility that maybe she hadn’t received his letters and this visit would be a total surprise. That should be fine, right? Vanessa typically liked surprises.

He pinched himself harder as the true fear fueling his anxious spiral pushed to the forefront of his thoughts. Maybe she wasn’t responding because she didn’t care about him anymore.

No, no. He was sure that that wasn’t it. Vanessa loved him. She told him plenty of times. No one just randomly stops loving someone, right? Still… it was possible he had said something stupid in his letters. He tried to recall the latest ones he had sent. He made a few bad law puns in one. Could he have overshared about the panic attack he had with his tutor? Maybe Vanessa didn’t like hearing him doubt his essay writing and he showed too much weakness.

“Prince!”

His thigh began to ache, and he loosened his grip. He began drumming his fingers again, needing to get the anxious energy out somehow.

“Prince? Hello?”

Staring out at the still, crystal lake, the Prince’s furrowed brows tightened as he cycled back through the part of his spiral where he wondered if Vanessa even knew he was coming.

“Prince!” A blue face with red markings in the eyes jumped into the frame of the window.

“Whoa!” The Prince leapt back before quickly recognizing his friend. “Moonjumper! You scared me.”

“I have been calling out to you,” Moonjumper stepped back, smiling with a toothy grin. “Is something troubling you?”

“Well,” the Prince began as he shuffled out of the carriage. He grabbed his things and gave his driver a thank you before following Moonjumper up the stairs to the manor. “Vanessa hasn’t responded to my letters.”

“None of them?” Moonjumper tilted his head. He crossed his arms and tapped his golden and blue coat sleeve. “Well, she does know you’re coming.”

“Is she alright with my visiting?” The Prince winced as worry pinched his heart.

“Oh, of course,” Moonjumper promised. “She’s been preparing since your letter arrived. She was probably just too focused on your arrival to send you a letter back.” The Prince let out a huge, relieved sigh and Moonjumper added, “but if you were worried you might want to mention that to her.”

“No need.” The Prince beamed, feeling as though the weight of the world instantly left his shoulders. Moonjumper held open the door to the manor and the Prince bowed with a smile as he added, “Now that I know she wasn’t upset with me or anything, I feel much better.”

“I suppose,” Moonjumper frowned, pausing in the doorway and gazing out to where the tips of the forest trees tickled the endless blue sky. Though it was the middle of the day and the sun warmed the earth, the white moon could be seen over the forest. The Prince followed Moonjumper’s gaze.

“Is everything okay back home?” the Prince asked slowly. He knew Moonjumper was a moon spirit, meaning he could only visit during the day, but that was the extent of his knowledge. Moonjumper had always been tightlipped about his home or his duties, but the Prince didn’t mind. He knew Moonjumper since forever, it seemed, and they had been best friends for what felt like longer.

“Yes,” Moonjumper answered, turning back towards the Prince and entering the manor. As he closed the door behind him, he explained, “I was just thinking I have seen much life beyond this forest. Even if you feel better about Vanessa’s motives in forgetting to write to you, I think you should tell her how her written absence made you feel, or it will probably happen again.”

“Hmm,” the Prince gnawed on his lip as they headed down the hallway. “I suppose that’s true…”

“Anyway,” Moonjumper offered to take his luggage while grinning. “Your princess is in the garden, I believe. Why don’t you go see her?”

“Thanks, Moonjumper.” The Prince smiled. He passed over his luggage before nearly skipping down the hall.

The garden behind the manor stretched all the way to the forest boarder. Colorful flowers in shades of gold, blue, red, and purple thrived in natural clusters. The fresh perfume of roses, lilacs, and daffodils lifted his spirits, but nothing lifted his spirits quite like Vanessa’s crouching figure next to a flowerbed of violets.

“Vanessa!” The Prince crossed over excitedly. Vanessa whirled around in surprise, her features lighting up before horror painted her countenance.

“No, no, wait!” She insisted, holding up her dirt covered hands, but it was too late. He flew into her embrace, knocking them both to the ground. The Prince laughed, hugging Vanessa close as she rolled her eyes in his arms.

“Dummy, now your clothes are all dirty!” She shook her head as she scooted away but he could see a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Who cares?” the Prince asked, stretching out on the ground and propping his chin on his hand. “You mean more to me than a couple soiled outfits.”

This caused Vanessa to preen with pride as she pushed to her feet and brushed off the majority of the dirt.

“Still, it would not reflect well on me if you didn’t look presentable,” she insisted, stooping down to pick up her light green gloves. “We’ll have to go to the market together and I can help you pick out some new clothes.”

“Any moment with you sounds wonderful,” the Prince pushed to his feet and took her cold hands into his. She looked up into his eyes, tangling her fingers between his with a smile.

“I’ve missed you.” She pushed to the tips of her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. He gave her hands a squeeze as he held his lips against hers.

“I’m missed you too,” he whispered against her mouth, all his previous anxiety forgotten. He waited for her to pull back before he glanced down at the flower bed she had been tending to. A trowel with a pile of soil sat beside a half-planted violet.

“I love violets,” Vanessa hummed, lifting their hands and pressing them between their chests. “They look so lovely in the sunlight or moonlight, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.” The Prince rubbed his thumbs over her fingers, lending her his warmth as was tradition when they held hands. “But you look lovelier.”

Vanessa giggled, sounding as sweet as bell, and the Prince felt warm all the way down to his toes.

“You say the sweetest things.” She pulled away and dropped one hand but held onto his other as she tugged him towards the manor. “If only I could keep you by my side forever.”

“Sounds nice,” the Prince laughed. “But that means you’d have to come to law school with me.”

“Ick.” Vanessa stuck out her bottom lip into a pout. “You know you don’t need to learn a trade. You don’t need to do anything since I’m the Queen.”

“I know,” the Prince said, his shoulders slumping a little. “But I love studying law and I’d like to think it could be useful to you if I had some background knowledge in it at least.”

Vanessa gave him an unimpressed look boarding on frustrated, but she quickly sighed and softened her features.

“Okay,” she relented. “But don’t think I’ve given up on trying to convince you all you need is right here.”

The Prince nodded. He supposed she was right. All he needed was here in the manor. But there was a world outside of the forest. He wondered if there was a way to show her that.


	2. Haircut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short aftermath of the event where Vanessa gives her Prince a haircut!

“Alright, done!” Vanessa cooed, backing up as the Prince opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was her smile and her curled hair bouncing with her excited movement. Her smile was contagious but when he turned to look at her work in the mirror, he felt his smile waver.

“What do you think?” she asked, fluffing up his curls she had painstakingly styled for the past hour.

“Um, it’s—nice,” he answered, taking in his bleached blond hair and the extensions she added to ensure they completely matched.

“You don’t like it?” Vanessa asked.

“It’s just that—” when she said she wanted to style his hair like hers, he had thought she meant just to curl his hair not… actually make it look exactly like hers. He didn’t know how to tell her that, however. In the mirror he could see her crestfallen features and he didn’t want to make things worse, especially when she worked so hard for his sake!

“Oh, I knew it,” Vanessa stomped her foot and turned away. “You don’t like how my hair looks so of course you wouldn’t like it on yourself!”

“No! No, no, no, Princess!” The Prince pushed to his feet and quickly stepped in front of her. She turned away and tried to follow. “I adore your hair, absolutely adore it! It’s just that on me—It doesn’t feel as special.” He felt like he was grasping at straws, trying to come up with an acceptable reason. She turned to meet his gaze, her brows still furrowed, and her lips pushed into a pout.

“It doesn’t feel special?” Vanessa repeated, tilting her head.

“Yes!” The Prince hoped he could get out of this while sparing her feelings as much as possible. “I love your hair on you! But on me it feels like a cheap imitation.”

“Oh,” Vanessa’s expression softened. Grinning, she lifted her cool hand to his features. Her cool touch calmed him, acting as a balance to the heat coming from his flustered cheeks. She laughed, “I’m sorry, my Prince. You’re right, but you do look lovely. Would you mind staying like this just awhile longer? Then I can have one of the servants cut and dye your hair back.”

“I’m sure I can manage awhile more,” the Prince said gently. It was only hair, after all.

Though, as he walked around the manor, the servants gave him looks and he found the extra hair only made him feel hotter.

“Ugh,” the prince groaned as he tucked his hair behind his ear for what felt like the thousandth time only for it to fall back into his eyes. At least the hair hid him from most of the questioning stares from everyone he passed.

After retrieving a hair tie from Vanessa’s room and retreating into the library, he pulled back the hair and decided to lose himself in literature so he wouldn’t have to think about his appearance.

Since Vanessa had convinced him to stay in Subcon Kingdom, the Prince often found himself in the library. First, he combed through the sparse books on law—wishing he had access to the enormous stock back at the school—and when he ran out of law books, he read anything and everything on the shelves. He craved knowledge like his lungs craved breath, but he was burning through books faster than oxygen. 

Settling for a book about plumbing he had read only once, he settled into the chair by the unlit fireplace and opened the cover. Some time passed before the door to the library creaked open. The Prince glanced up as Moonjumper entered with a stack of books.

“The ponytail looks good,” Moonjumper complimented sincerely as he placed the stack of books on a nearby table.

“It’s very hot,” the Prince sighed, wiping at the sweat on his brow.

“Yeah it is.” Moonjumper winked. He chuckled at the Prince’s glare before adding in a serious tone, “did you tell Vanessa that?”

“She wants me to wear it like this for a little longer.” The Prince frowned, looking back down at the page on old aqueduct systems.

“So that’s a no, then.” Moonjumper raised a challenging eyebrow.

“Please, you should have seen the look on her face when I didn’t immediately say I liked it.”

“So?” Moonjumper picked up the book on top and crossed over to the chair. He tapped the book against the Prince’s knee gently. “You should see the depressed look on your face right now.”

“That bad?” The Prince looked up, deflating.

“Yep.” Moonjumper waved the book in the air. A quick scan of the cover told the Prince it was a book of fairy tales. Moonjumper explained, “I heard you ran out of new material to read so I brought you some books from my favorite bookstore back home.”

“You didn’t have to,” the Prince insisted though he was already reaching for the new stories from a moon spirit.

“And you didn’t have to drop out of law school,” Moonjumper returned as he handed over the thick book. “Sharing a few books is nothing compared to what you did for Vanessa.”

“It was nothing.” The Prince hugged Moonjumper’s book to his chest while he used his other hand to close the plumbing book in his lap. As he looked for a place to put it without standing up, Moonjumper took the book and lightly bopped it on the Prince’s blond hair. “Ow!” The Prince exclaimed out of surprise more than hurt.

“You gave up everything for Vanessa,” Moonjumper corrected firmly. “And it was a needless sacrifice. She’s not dying, she’s not sick, and it’s not like it would be difficult to continue writing to each other. She could visit you any time and you can visit her most weekends.”

“She told me she missed me and felt like I didn’t care about her when I was gone,” the Prince argued, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Do you miss law school?” Moonjumper asked far too calmly.

“Yes, but you make sacrifices for love!” The Prince’s voice raised, and he immediately winced—knowing that he had no right to get frustrated with Moonjumper. He let out a sigh and forced himself to calm down. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t get angry. You’re a concerned friend and I appreciate it, but I promise, I’m not upset about my choices. I would do anything for Vanessa, and for you, too. You guys are like my family.”

“You can get angry,” Moonjumper’s calm features drooped with concern. “We _are_ family. Which is why I won’t abandon you for something like losing your temper. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” the Prince gave Moonjumper a fatigued smile. “I know.”

“Read, _The Snow Queen_.” Moonjumper tapped the cover of the book of fairy tales before turning to go.

“Is it good?” The Prince asked, flipping to the table of contents.

“I think so,” Moonjumper mused as he headed for the door. “I find it insightful. I’ll see you later, my friend.”

“Have a good evening, Moonjumper!” The Prince called, already turning to _The Snow Queen_.

He propped his chin on his hand and eagerly began reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy! I'm just writing little shorts! This is turning into an au that I am slowly fleshing out. Thanks for reading!


	3. Crumbling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Did you know that apparently on the unused third floor of the manor, messages on the wall indicate that Vanessa did something to the Prince's home so he would have a reason to stay with her? That's pretty messed up! I don't think she would admit to doing something like that but.... Anyway, this is another little blurb about Vanessa and the Prince's relationship. Please enjoy!

The golden moon hung in the sky. A chill in the night air slipped through the fibers of his cloak and the Prince shivered. The air was stale and though the trees and grass grew just fine, not a living creature but him remained in the area. He hugged himself as he wandered through the wreckage of his home.

His bookshelf leaned against the remains of the cobblestone wall. The roof was entirely removed. Where it’s remains lay, the Prince couldn’t say. But the strangest phenomenon was how the table, chairs, and his cello were frozen, somehow, and intangible. Almost like ghosts, the furniture hovered in the air and when he tried to touch them, his hand went straight through.

His home was not the only structure that suffered from ghostly ice. The clock tower that had once been the Prince’s neighbor was completely obliterated. Beyond the iron gate, the crumbled arcs of the clock tower surrounded a sharp dagger of ice that held chunks of stone and gears suspended around it.

“How did this happen?” the Prince wondered out loud, needing to fill the silence, needing to bring life back to his home in the forest. He tucked a lock of his brown hair—thankfully styled to his preference once again—behind his ear, and examined the crumbled stones.

He and Vanessa and Moonjumper had been in the garden at the manor, planting flowers and making new patches, when two of the village children came running, yelling about an iceberg in the forest. The three of them had followed the children across the river and deep into the woods, finding the Prince’s home in ruins.

His things, his bed, his books, his shelter were all gone, destroyed by a strange, unsettling ice. He had collapsed when he saw the wreck and was grateful Vanessa had been there to comfort him, wiping his tears with her gloved hands. Desperate, the Prince wanted to search the remains of his home and to investigate the source of the ice at the clock tower, but Vanessa insisted he return to the manor with her. She argued that she couldn’t watch him despair further and instead, decided his time would be better spent recovering in the manor. Reluctantly, he had agreed, and Vanessa led him, sniffling, back to her home while Moonjumper remained to salvage some of his clothes.

That all had happened a week ago and Vanessa was adamant he didn’t return to his home, for fear it would upset him too much. But he finally managed to sneak away and, while the ruins squeezed at his heart, he felt a sense of closure as he stood in what was once his yard.

His home was a mess but at least it was his home.

Besides, it was strange that ice did this. It was obviously unnatural. It was not melting despite the fact it was summer and the iced chairs and table hovered like the shards at the center of the ice explosion. He had to make sure the ice wouldn’t spread, right? He couldn’t let anyone else lose their homes like he had lost his.

After mourning his home, staring at the pictures on the walls and the stuffed umbrella stand, he headed over to the ice explosion just a crumbled wall and iron gate away.

Ghostly ice had torn the structure that had previously been there asunder. The cobblestone clock tower was in pieces—the Prince had even seen the clock face and gears scattered about the nearby forest—and what was left hovered around the ice. Next to it, a pillar with an alternating pattern of purple spirals and a purple top hat was split nearly in half. The top half was nowhere to be seen.

“What would cause this?” the Prince muttered as he glanced down at the water gurgling beneath the hollow ice. Was there a spring? He stepped into the water, finding that it splashed around his boots, but didn’t soak through the leather. Kneeling down, he pressed his fingers into a cup and dipped his hand into the water. It pooled in his palm and droplets slipped through his fingers, but it didn’t feel wet.

The Prince hummed with fascination and frustration. He shook the water from his hand and backed away, looking up at the tower. He thought, for a moment, about the fairy tale Moonjumper recommended to him. Even ignoring the fact that it was a fairy tale from another place and certainly wasn’t trying to present itself as factual, the fairy tale did contain a Snow Queen who could bring winter and freeze hearts, but there wasn’t any ghostly ice like this. Even fiction left him at a dead end.

Maybe he could ask Moonjumper if he’s ever heard of magic ice in the morning.

While the Prince wanted to look around more, a yawn overwhelmed him, and a tired tear squeezed out of his eye. He stretched, waking up his limbs for the walk back to Vanessa’s manor, and gave the area a final scan. Swallowing the sorrow he felt looking at his house, he turned his back to it, but not his heart.

When he returned to the manor some time later, sneaking in through the front door, a match lit and the Prince whirled on his heels to find Vanessa lighting a candle.

“Princess!” He offered a sheepish smile as his heart skipped a beat. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

“Where were you?” Vanessa asked, the flame on the candle wick casting ominous shadows across her furrowed brows.

“J-just to clear my head,” the Prince offered. He didn’t dare admit he went all the way to his house, not after she spent a week trying to protect him from it. “I-I was just looking at the moon. It’s lovely tonight, don’t you think?”

“If it’s so lovely, why don’t you just marry it?” Vanessa snapped before turning and stomping away.

“Princess!” the Prince cried, confused by her ire.

Sure, randomly disappearing in the middle of the night without a word wasn’t the best thing he could have done but he didn’t do anything that bad, did he?

“Do you know how worried I was when I woke up and you were gone?” Vanessa demanded, turning over her shoulder but not pausing as she headed through the dining room and up the stairs.

Worried? The Prince hurried after her, following the flickering flame that cast their distorted shadows on the walls. Was she simply worried about his wellbeing?

“You could have been kidnapped!” Vanessa continued. “Or worse, you could have left me to go back to school or runaway with the baker for all I know! I’ve seen how you smile at her when we go on dates.”

“Vanessa—” the Prince almost laughed at such an inconceivable scenario. Surely, she was joking.

“I knew it!” She whirled around as they reached the door to her room, tears glistening in her eyes. “You aren’t even calling me Princess! You hate me!”

“No-no,” he startled, “no, I called you Vanessa because that’s your name. I’m sorry, Princess, I just—” her sobs interrupted him and he felt a jab in his chest. “Princess,” he cooed gently as he closed the distance between them and caught one of her chilled tears on his thumb. Surprised, he pulled her trembling figure into his arms and stroked her hair. “Princess, you’re freezing! Let’s get you to bed, okay?”

“Stay with me!” She choked out against his shoulder, gripping his cloak with her hand that wasn’t holding the candle at a safe distance. “Please! Don’t leave again.”

“I’ll stay,” he soothed, “I’m not going anywhere.”

While her sobs subsided, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to bed. He gingerly tucked her under the covers. He was only able to take off his shoes and cloak before she reached out and grabbed his sleeve. Accepting that he wouldn’t be able to change back into his pajamas, he scooted into bed next to her. He blew out her candle he had placed on the bedside table and lay next to her. He remained still as she buried her face in his chest.

“I’ll never stop loving you,” he promised, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “The best of my smiles are yours. And if I ever get kidnapped, spirited away, I’ll fight to come back to you.”

Her grip tightened on his shirt and she buried herself further into him, as if trying to reach his heart. Closing his eyes, he shifted an arm around her and held her. He waited for her grip to loosen and for her breath to steady before he gently shifted onto his back. With her head still perched on his chest, he craned his neck to gaze out the bedroom window.

He could see the moon and stars. He pictured the phantom ice and his ruined home. Closing his eyes, he reminded himself that he was lucky he had someone who loved him so much. Though he was losing so much, at least he had his Princess.

He felt a wet drop slip down his cheek. He lifted his free hand to his face and collected a tear on his finger. He blinked in surprise. Why?

Why was he crying?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the video I watched that inspired... a lot of this chapter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qfl106K2l0. In case you were curious/wanna throw around theories with me, I wondered if the Prince's house was the one back by the ice structure where the purple time rift is found. That area specifically has intrigued me so much! It's one of the only houses with furniture (other than the Snatcher's tree and Vanessa's manor) and you can walk through the table... and the ice structure isn't all that solid either... It's a curious place! So I tried to imagine what happened there. But let me know what you think! I love hunting for clues about the past in Subcon.

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda playing around with Moonjumper in this story. Might evolve into an au idea I have and delve deeper into Moonjumper and the Horizon bUT for now just about the Prince and Vanessa.


End file.
